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N0KFQ > TODAY 23.06.11 16:37l 44 Lines 1824 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 9166_KB0WSA
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Subj: Today in History - Jun 23
Path: IZ3LSV<IK2XDE<DB0RES<ON0AR<HS1LMV<CX2SA<N0KFQ<KB0WSA
Sent: 110623/1407Z 9166@KB0WSA.MO.USA.NA BPQ1.0.4
Jun 23, 1940:
Hitler takes a tour of Paris
On this day in 1940, Adolf Hitler surveys notable sites in the
French capital, now German-occupied territory.
In his first and only visit to Paris, Hitler made Napoleon's tomb
among the sites to see. "That was the greatest and finest moment
of my life," he said upon leaving. Comparisons between the Fuhrer
and Napoleon have been made many times: They were both foreigners
to the countries they ruled (Napoleon was Italian, Hitler was
Austrian); both planned invasions of Russia while preparing
invasions of England; both captured the Russian city of Vilna on
June 24; both had photographic memories; both were under 5 feet 9
inches tall, among other coincidences.
As a tribute to the French emperor, Hitler ordered that the
remains of Napoleon's son be moved from Vienna to lie beside his
father.
But Hitler being Hitler, he came to do more than gawk at the
tourist attractions. He ordered the destruction of two World War
I monuments: one to General Charles Mangin, a French war hero,
and one to Edith Cavell, a British nurse who was executed by a
German firing squad for helping Allied soldiers escape
German-occupied Brussels. The last thing Hitler wanted were such
visible reminders of past German defeat.
Hitler would gush about Paris for months afterward. He was so
impressed, he ordered architect and friend Albert Speer to revive
plans for a massive construction program of new public buildings
in Berlin, an attempt to destroy Paris, not with bombs, but with
superior architecture. "Wasn't Paris beautiful?" Hitler asked
Speer. "But Berlin must be far more beautiful. [W]hen we are
finished in Berlin, Paris will only be a shadow."
73, K.O. n0kfq
Another old retired guy
N0KFQ@N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA
E-mail: n0kfq@centurytel.net
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